Bevacizumab Plus Carboplatin Plus Nab-paclitaxel for Non-squamous Non-small Cell Lung Cancer in a Real-world Setting

Regimens with bevacizumab (Bev) have high response rates. We previously showed the efficacy of Bev plus carboplatin (CBDCA)/nab-paclitaxel (nab-PTX) in the treatment of non-squamous (non-SQ) non-small lung cell cancer (NSCLC) with malignant pleural effusion in a phase II trial. However, few studies have reported the efficacy and safety of this regimen. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the efficacy and safety of Bev plus CBDCA/nab-PTX for patients with NSCLC.

We included patients with non-SQ NSCLC that underwent any number of treatment lines. Patients received a maximum of six cycles of Bev plus CBDCA/nab-PTX every three to four weeks followed by Bev plus nab-PTX every three to four weeks without disease progression or severe toxicities. The administration dose was left to the discretion of the attending physician.

We enrolled 48 patients treated with Bev plus CBDCA/nab-PTX between June 2015 and August 2021. The best response rate was 56.3% and the disease control rate was 79.2%. Twenty-three patients received maintenance therapy. Median progression-free and overall survival times were 6.8 and 10.4 months, respectively. Common adverse events included hematological toxicities, including ≥grade 3 neutropenia and neurosensory toxicity. One patient experienced severe bleeding events (grade 3 gastrointestinal bleeding) and another experienced grade 5 toxicity (infection).

The combination of Bev plus CBDCA/nab-PTX showed good efficacy with acceptable toxicities in non-SQ NSCLC patients, despite the inclusion of patients with late treatment lines and poor performance status.